PBBC NEWSLETTER 02-2015

PBBC NEWSLETTER 02-2015

(Hong Kong) 6-7 October 2015 — The Philippine-British Business Council (PBBC), in partnership with the British Embassy in Manila and the UK Trade and Investment Centre, a Philippine Infrastructure and PPP Roadshow in the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong as a continuing initiative of promoting high-value Philippine investment and project opportunities to British compa-nies and enterprises located and based in the region. The roadshow also focused on facilitating partnerships and collaboration with the Hong Kong-based British private sector and Philippine companies, and explor-ing other market ventures for trade. Leading the official Philippine delegation was Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima, while the business delegation was led by PBBC Chairman Jesus Tambunting. The official delegation was comprised of Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director-General Lilia B. de Lima, Transportations and Communications Undersecretary Rene K. Limcao-co, and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Centre Exec-utive Director Cosette V. Canilao. This year’s business delegation featured a high-level representation from the Philippine infrastructure, banking, and financial ser-vices sectors.

Philippine-British Business Council roadshow seeks infrastructure and other public-private partnerships in Hong Kong

A quarterly publication of the Philippine-British Business Council, the PBBC Newsletter provides the latest socio-economic updates, as well as news on developments in trade and investments between the two countries.

PBBC Executive CommitteeAMB. JESUS P. TAMBUNTING, Co-ChairmanEDGAR O. CHUA, Vice ChairmanANTHONY T. HUANG JR.GUILLERMO LUCHANGCOJOSE MA. T. ZABALETA

PBBC Executive DirectorPETER ANGELO V. PERFECTO

PBBC SECRETARIAT2/F, AIM Conference CenterBenavidez Street cor. Trasierra StreetLegaspi Village, 1229, Makati CityPhilippines Tel (+63 2) 751-1143Fax (+63 2) 751-1160

Published for the Philippines- British Business Council by

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Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima delivering the conference’s keynote address.

ABOVE: The Philippine Infrastructure and PPP Investment Opportunities Conference hosted by the British Consulate-General in Hong Kong SAR

PBBC NEWSLETTER 02-2015

ABOVE (L-R): British Consul-General to Hong Kong Caroline Wilson, Brit-ish Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad, PBBC Co-Chairman Am-bassador Jesus Tambunting, and PEZA Director-General Lilia de Lima; BELOW (L-R): Peter Perfecto, Guillermo Luchangco, Amb. Tambunting, Roman Azanza III, and Ed Francisco (Philippine business delegation).

On October 6, a conference on Infrastructure and PPP Investment Opportunities in the Philippines was conducted at the British Consulate-General, with 50 British infrastructure companies in attendance. In his keynote address, Secretary Purisima highlighted the country’s strong macroeconomic fundamentals and business climate, as well as structural reforms to-wards competitiveness, paving the Philippines’ path towards being one of the region’s most attractive and sustainable environments for global investments. Prospects for key big-ticket entries were presented by Undersecretary Canilao through the public-pri-vate partnership program of the Philippines, with par-ticular emphasis on the country’s transportation infra-structure projects. DOTC Undersecretary Limcaoco discussed in further detail possible opportunities for British participation in rolled-out projects amounting to an impressive estimate of £7.8 billion for the devel-opment of the country’s regional airports, the Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike, the Integrated Transport South Terminal, and the North-South Railway Project, among others. In response, a presentation on ca-pabilities and expertise of British companies likewise identified particular strengths in planning and design, construction, maintenance and equipment, as well as in project management, consultancy, and financ-ing and insurance.

PEZA Director-General Lilia de Lima addressing the British Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong.

Amb. Ahmad, Guillermo Luchangco, and Amb. Tambunting at the British Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong meeting

Doing Business in the Philippines panel with (L-R) Chris Nelson, John Syquia, DOTC Usec. Rene Limcaoco, Wick Veloso, PEZA DG De Lima, Jules Riego, Ed Francisco, and Roman Azanza III

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PBBC NEWSLETTER 02-2015

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Join the Philippine-British Business Council!The PBBC was established in 1995 to promote trade and investments between the Philippines and the Unit-ed Kingdom. The council is composed of top business executives who seek to explore business opportuni-ties between the two countries and to promote the exchange of views on policies of mutual concern. The Makati Business Club serves as the secretariat of the PBBC. For membership inquiries, contact Victoria Sibal, PBBC Coordinator at (+63 2) 751-1143 or send an email to victoria.sibal@mbc.com.ph

Business on a boat (L-R): Rona Diaz, Louie Ferrer, Chris Nelson, Amb. Ahmad, Amb. Tam-bunting, Andrew Hinton, Iain Mansfield, Joyce Tolentino, Guillermo Luchangco, Peter Perfec-to, Karim Garcia, Roman Azanza III, Consul Charles Macaspac, Ed Francisco.

The latter part of the conference show-cased the features and advantages of entering the Philippine market through the country’s economic zones under PEZA, as well as various private sector perspectives and testimonials on do-ing business in the Philippines by SGV & Co. and HSBC. One-on-one business meetings between British companies and the Philippine delegation were also arranged, capping off the business networking component of the confer-ence.

On October 7, the Philippine delega-tion had the opportunity to sit down and network with a more broad-based group of British companies at a break-fast meeting hosted by the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong. A presentation on the country’s gener-al business experience, headlined by

PEZA and Banco de Oro Unibank, Inc., was received extremely well, reflecting a generally positive investor sentiment towards the Philippines.

A unique component of the roadshow was a boat trip around the Victoria Harbour to more properly showcase prominent British presence in Hong Kong’s urban landscape. Featured along the trip were the Hong Kong Exhi-bition MTR station, the Central Wan-Chai Bypass, the Kowloon East Development, the XRL Terminus, the Stone-cutter Bridge, and the Stonecutter Island Water Treatment Plant. For the duration of the excursion, companies heavily involved in the development and construction of some of the aforementioned structures (i.e. Atkins, Aedas, and Arup) had the opportunity to give their respective presentations, concretely underscoring British infrastructure capabilities. Immediately thereafter, the roadshow concluded with a lunch briefing at the Hong Kong International Airport World Trade Centre on airport infrastructure improvement and a business networking session.

The PBBC’s roadshow in Hong Kong is the third leg in the Council’s agenda towards the development of Phil-ippine-British mutual economic linkages. Previous trade and investment promotion missions were in London in 2013, and in Singapore in 2014. Planning for a fourth roadshow in 2016 is currently underway.

ABOVE: Wick Veloso with PPP Executive Director Cosette Canilao

Philippine business delegation with British infrastructure company representatives.